Braves Rumors: Sleeper trade target, Kyle Wright move clears path, back-breaking slumps

Braves Rumors: Kyle Wright moves to 60-day IL, Atlanta claims Dereck Rodriguez off waivers

The Braves made the long-expected move to place starting pitcher Kyle Wright on the IL, unfortunately on the 60-day variety, on Monday. Given that he’s not only expected to be out for two months but perhaps longer, this wasn’t all that surprising. The interesting part of the equation, though, is what the move to the IL opened up.

As Atlanta put last season’s 20-game winner on the shelf, they claimed 30-year-old Dereck Rodriguez off of waivers from the Twins, moving him to Triple-A Gwinnett as part of the 40-man roster.

Rodriguez has made 54 big-league appearances over five seasons between the Giants and Twins, including 35 starts, and has posted a 4.88 ERA and 1.324 WHIP over that time. However, his time in MLB has been sporadic over the past three seasons, making only five total appearances in the bigs.

His one appearance for the Twins this year was less than desirable, though not horrendous, as he gave up one hit, one walk and one earned run over 0.2 innings.

Still, given the pitching injuries that the Braves have been forced to deal with, adding a veteran with starting and relief experience who has, overall, been passable in his career is smart business, especially at the cheap price of claiming him off of waivers.

We’ll have to see if Rodriguez is any kind of answer for Atlanta by how he performs with the Stripers but, given that we’ve recently seen Dylan Dodd struggle in Triple-A and with the myriad of pitching injuries wreaking havoc, it’s a worthwhile swing for the reigning NL East champs.